Marker lights are used for edge lighting of runways and taxiways at airports. The marker lights generally comprise a light fixture and a mounting assembly. Stake mounting assemblies and base mounting assemblies heretofore have been used, with the latter including a base plate having a peripheral arrangement of bolt holes through which mounting bolts extend for attaching the base to a support surface such as a concrete pad including threaded anchors for the bolts.
The marker lights typically are of relatively short height. As a result, marker lights near a taxying aircraft are oftentimes obscured from the pilot's view. Consequently, the pilot may not be able to visually ascertain the position of his aircraft relative to the edge of the taxiway that is marked by the marker lights. Excessive glare under bright sunlight conditions or heavy blowing snow creating "white out" can make it very difficult to see the marker lights, if at all. Also, the marker lights may on occasion become hidden from view such as by a heavy accumulation of snow.
In an effort to solve the above problems, a prior art practice had been to use fabric flags on wire posts stuck in the ground. One drawback with these flags was that jet engines had a tendency to blow apart the flags. Today, the FAA has designated the flags as foreign object debris thereby precluding their use at FAA controlled airports.